Sara Thompson is the Director of Training and Communications at The Montana Institute, specializing in the development and delivery of training, technical assistance, and communications centered on the Science of the Positive Framework and Positive Community Norms.

Since 2006, Sara has worked with community coalitions in her home state of Minnesota and nationally, focusing on correcting misperceptions of norms by applying the 7-Step Montana Model for Positive Community Norms Communications. Through The Montana Institute, she offers consultation, training, tool development, and technical support to communities applying the Science of the Positive and Positive Community Norms Frameworks to prevention.

Sara spent almost a decade as a morning radio show host before she began her marketing consulting business in 2002. With over two decades of experience as a strategic marketing consultant, Sara has served a wide range of clients, including large and small companies, non-profit organizations, cooperatives, festivals, community events and prevention coalitions.

Sara finds immense reward in sharing the Science of the Positive framework with communities, exploring important questions and concerns, diving into data, and watching people light up with passion and excitement as they experience a paradigm shift that The Positive does, in fact, exist! She loves to roll up her sleeves and connect with coalitions, organizations, and agencies at the community level as they create messages from data and develop Positive Community Norms communications. Many people say that Sara's authenticity, energy, and optimism is refreshing and contagious.

Outside of work, Sara cherishes coffee time with her adult son when he visits, enjoys regularly challenging her body through exercise and fitness, and loves traveling and vacationing with her husband. She enjoys being outdoors in the woods, on the water, or in the mountains. Sara also volunteers at her church and finds great joy in connecting to a greater purpose.